Like Balto, But Better
by M10110
Summary: Different sections of the book, from a certain four-legged character's point of view. Judge. :
1. Chapter 1

**AN: After reading My Sisters Keeper in class, I was given an assignment in my language class to write "journals" or chapters of My Sisters Keeper from a characters point of view that they hadn't "written" already. For example, in the chapter where Brian confronts Jesse about finding his cigarette at the scene of a fire, we don't know what is going through Jesse's head, so I could have written that chapter from his point of view. Well, I decided to choose a character that I thought had an important role in the book. This character would be Judge. Campbell's dog. :) **

**We had to choose five different chapters, so here's Monday. **

**Hope you like it. :) I had fun writing it. **

My Sisters Keeper, and Characters(c)Jodi Picoult

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Monday

When Campbell opens the door to his office Monday morning, I barge in heading over to my spot by his desk. But before I can reach it, I come face to face with a young girl. With hair so dark it has the appearance of being dipped in coffee grounds, and her cheeks splattered with freckles, she has a slim build and milky brown eyes that now stare at me.

I give her a look before making my way around her.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I say to her. (Though my communication to her is beyond her comprehension… Something about us four-legged's not being able to use our lips and tongues to pronounce certain sounds. Campbell did the research for a case once, don't ask, but you try to say the word "dog" without using your lips or tongue. Be that as it may, I do wish our pronunciation were of higher quality so I _could_ speak your human languages. I'd love to learn French and talk to the female with the poodle next door…)

Anyway, I start to head over to the black coffee mug sitting there by the wooden desk full of water like it always is. I regret it as soon as I take a drink. I should know better than to drink left over water from the day before.

I turn back around to see Campbell say to the girl, "I don't want any Girl Scout cookies."

I cock my head. Who said I didn't?

"Although," he continues, "You do get Brownie points for tenacity. Ha."

The girl, who I'm guessing is around 13 in human years says, somewhat vexed, "I'm not selling anything."

Campbell, whom I've been with for seven years, can, from time to time, be a jerk. I like to think though, that it's not all entirely his fault. Some of it may be the _actual_ Campbell since I know he was a wiseass in school, he's told me, but it could be just an un-harmful side affect. If you had hourly seizures, I think you would develop a tendency to be an a-hole too.

"Kerri," Campbell looks at the girl while pushing the number to call his secretary in the next room over. "What is this doing in my office?"

Then again…

The girl then says something I never would have expected to come from her mouth: she wanted to hire my owner.

"This should be good," I mutter as I lie down and place my head between my paws.

Campbell shakes his head. "I don't think so."

She argues still, saying he doesn't even know if she even has a case.

She steps forward, and instinctively so do I. She stares at me probably noticing that I'm not just a pet. I imagine for a spilt second me smiling at her and taking one of the badass super-dog poses with the spotlight'n'everything, but remember it is against "Canine Protocol" and that I must remain even, act protective, and…"dog-like." Apparently, it's against the "rules" and modern society, to reveal to humans that you understand everything they say, and that we're smarter than we appear.

In other words: it freaks them out.

No really. I smiled at an old lady once who came to the attorney to make a case after she grinned at me, fake dentures and all, and she almost had a heart attack.

The girl, probably out of habit when she sees a cute dog, I happen to think I'm very handsome thank you very much, goes to pet me, but Campbell tells her not to.

"Judge is a service dog."

If I had a bone for every time I heard that one.

She recoils. "But you aren't blind."

_We appreciate your contribution to the "Obvious Charity"_,I think to myself.

"Thank you for pointing that out to me," Campbell replies.

"So what's the matter with you?"

My ears perk up. Oh goody. I love this part.

"I have an iron lung..."

Bull.

"…and the dog keeps me from getting too close to magnets."

The bull continues.

As he asks her to leave, she interrupts him again and they head into a conversation about a case I don't remember, and I take the time to process Campbell's situation.

Heartbeat: normal.

Breathing: normal.

Behavior: normal.

All the vital signs appear to be in order.

After my analysis, I refocus to their conversation just when the girl says, "It's not God. Just my parents. I want to sue them for the rights to my own body."

_That's_ a new one.

Campbell rips up a Post-it and sighs before answering her with a question. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't." She sits up. "It's Anna Fitzgerald."

Campbell has stood, and moved to the door to yell at Kerri, "Can you get the Planned Parenthood number for Ms. Fitzgerald?"

I watch as Anna Fitzgerald turns a bright red and stands appalled at his assumption. "_What?_ Planned _Parenthood_?"

Campbell still believes the situation is about teen pregnancy and continues to babble.

Anna replies with, "My sister is dying, and my mother wants me to donate one of my kidneys to her."

Campbell forgets the papers Kerri went to search for, and instead goes back to sit at his desk. "No one can make you donate an organ if you don't want to."

Not entirely true. People would never ask me if I had to donate an organ to a family member. Then again I'm a dog. Why would anyone care what I think? I'm an animal. It's not like I have feelings or anything. Just have my guardian sign the papers and _WHALLA; I'd_ be on my way to the vet's office. Awful place by the way.

I then realize Anna may be in the same situation…Whether she wanted to or not, her parents would just plaster their signatures on a few documents and then she'd be sent to the hospital to do whatever they please.

Anna glares and spouts out a number of donations she'd gone through since she was born.

"Obviously, you've agreed to be a donor for your sister before."

"Nobody ever asked."

"Did you tell your parents you don't want to donate a kidney?"

"They don't listen to me."

"They might if you mentioned this."

The girl goes on about how her parents rarely "see" her, and explains that she was literally born to save her sister's life. Talk about knowing your real purpose in life.

Campbell taps his pen on his desk and I inch closer. He talks about the consequences if she carries this out, and she understands completely.

I can say I can put myself into Anna's shoes, as the saying goes, but that doesn't mean I'd fit them. I didn't hang around my brothers and sisters for long, but they're my family and I can imagine I'd do anything for them. Then again, I don't think I'd want to end up like her either. Hard decision to make. I wonder if she has hidden motives…

She pulls out a wad of cash hoping it's enough, but attorneys are expensive.

"Maybe I could walk your dog, or something," she suggests.

I like that idea. Having someone else take me out besides Campbell would be nice. A change of pace.

"Service dogs get walked by their owners," Campbell says.

I roll my eyes. Humans and their absurd rules. I forgot. If another person partakes in any activities involving me, I may get "corrupted" or something. Yeah, right.

He then explains everything that is about to unfold before she makes a comment about his name and a brand of soup. I snort, but they don't notice.

Campbell hands her his card in case she needs to contact him, which she then takes and rips. She hands him back a note.

I take it it was a phone number because she tells him, "If _you_ have questions."

I sit up and smile to myself.

Hm.

I might like this kid.

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**AN: Hope you liked it. :) Please review! **

**~M**


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday

The most entertaining thing about Campbell, I have to say, is the way he talks to his mom when she calls him 9 times a week. Call me sadistic, but his facial expressions when she yells at him are downright priceless. He either rolls his eyes a certain way, or gives me a look that says, "Please kill me now."

It's downright hilarious.

"Mother," he now says a hand to his forehead, eyes squeezed shut. "I doubt she's actually seventeen."

Ah, you humans and your desire for more than one person. Dogs? Three words: Mate for life. Simple as that.

"You underestimate your father, Campbell," I hear his mom say through the phone.

"Mom, I'm late for court," Campbell lies. He's good at that. "I'll check back in with you later." _Really_ good at it.

He hangs up with a sigh just as she starts to begin another conversation. He looks down at me and points the phone at me. "Reason number 106 why dogs are smarter than humans…" There's a 106 reasons? Wow, I underestimate myself, "Once you leave the litter, you sever contact with your mothers."

Very true, but not the best thing about being a pooch. Humans don't look at what they have till it's gone. I wish I remembered my mother…Campbell on the other hand does not….(Well, he's not that heartless, but you know what I mean.)

I follow Campbell into his kitchen. If I could see colors, being color blind is very inconvenient by the way, his apartment would look the same. That's how utterly bland it is. He thinks it's fashionable. To me it just looks like someone sucked the life out of everything.

"You need a woman man," I tell him. "Brighten the place up."

"What do you think? Rosie's sound good?"

I immediately forget about the girl. Rosie's is where Campbell and I spend most of our time. The people watching is great, and they have the best chocolate croissants in the neighborhood. Campbell tried feeding me hypoallergenic dog food once. It looked like dirt, and smelled of cats.

"That's disgusting," I'd looked up at him when he'd sat a red food bowl in front of me one afternoon. "It doesn't even have my name on it!" I'd complained.

I've been eating "people food" ever since.

He fastens my harness on and then we leave.

It's bright and early and the coffee shop is bustling when we arrive. I bring us to the nearest free table and take a seat. I look for the waitress Campbell usually flirts with, but she's disappeared. Shame.

A gangly-looking boy comes up to us instead.

"I will never understand why your race does that," I comment to Campbell as I stare at the flashing silver rings attached to the boys brows. "So primitive."

He looks at me and I almost jump out of my vest. "Sorry, dude. No dogs allowed."

"Where has education gone these days? Can people not read anymore?" I murmur.

"This is a service dog," Campbell says for the trillionth time I've heard him say so. "Where's Ophelia?"

"That's her name?" I look at Campbell. "Thought it was Cruella…" True. She wore dead animals on her sleeves. I had a thought to call Ace Ventura, but remembered it was just Jim Carry with a crazy haircut.

"She's gone, man. Eloped last night."

Good riddens.

"Here's the Braille menu."

"I want a double espresso and two croissants, and I'm not blind," Campbell says.

"Then what's Fido for?"

"I have SARS. He's tallying the people I infect."

Campbell has made up so many excuses for me I've lost count.

"I'm allergic to peanut butter and the dog comes between me and one of those Reeses filled chocolate bunnies when Easter rolls around. (Trust me if that one were true, the solution would be simple. I'd eat it.)

"I'm allergic to dogs." Yeah he didn't think that one through…

But the excuse works, and the waiter leaves us be.

I suddenly catch a whiff of something I haven't smelt in a long time. I usually only smelt it around some of Campbell's old photographs. But there it was.

I looked out the window, and saw a woman with ebony curls. She spills coffee on her shirt, and I look up at Campbell to see him dumbfounded.

Bingo. If this job fails, I call Scooby's job.


	3. Chapter 3

The Weekend-Sunday

Airbud. Balto. Every dog has his idol. I like to think I'm like Balto…but with a red cape…And I save one person, but it's daily mind you, and he saved a whole bunch of people from…Bieber Fever or something…

Point is: no matter the dog, every dog is loyal to mankind. Period. It's almost like we have it programmed into our DNA or something. It's inescapable.

And Anna Fitzgerald sits across from me legs straight out, as I lay by Campbell's feet as he yells into the telephone. She is sitting on the floor digging her nails into the carpet making that grating, and irritating noise as she pulls at its grey strands.

And it's bothering me.

She looks over at me, and notices I'm watching her.

We are all waiting patiently for her mother to show up for a meeting, and she looks nervous. And scared.

I look up at Campbell, who is so busy on the phone arguing with his mother that he hadn't even noticed the kid began to look worried.

Which is strange because through this whole mess, not once had I seen Anna distraught over this idea. Bothered yes, but worried, no.

I may be sarcastic and rude sometimes, but I'm not heartless. So that loyal canine instinct decides to kick in, and I move over to her.

"Hey boy," she whispers to me.

I sit and she pierces her lips before going back to destroying the carpet.

Over the course of this case, for some odd reason, I've come to like this girl. Maybe it's because of her brave nature, or her strong attitude, I don't know, but I've grown fond of her. Seeing her like this, out of character, unnerves me.

I hang my head down looking up at her using the definition of "puppy dog eyes."

She sees me out of the corner of her eye, and gives me a light smile, before hesitantly scratching me behind the ears. She gives Campbell a wary look knowing she's not to suppose to be doing this, but continues anyway.

I then notice her eyes are glistening.

Being a dog, I don't cry. I've never even made a pitiful _whimper_ that would even _suggest_ that I was crying. So you can imagine I don't _do_ tears.

But as I look at this girl whose fighting back waterfalls, I can tell she needs someone to talk too. Dogs are good for that. We listen, but don't give feedback and don't snap at you if we don't like what you say. We're perfect for this sort of thing.

"I wish I could tell someone," she whispers.

My ears perk up. She probably isn't even aware she said it aloud and Campbell has no notion of what she said either or else he would have made some remark.

I cock my head, and she moves both of her hands to ruffle the sides of my neck. She glances at Campbell again.

"It must be so easy being a dog," she says to me.

"Not really," I tell her. "You don't have to deal with fleas once a year."

She smiles.

She stops messing with my coat to place her hands in her lap, and leans her head against the wall gazing at the ceiling. She goes somewhere else.

"I know I'm going to get a mouthful for this later, but…" I lay down, and place my head on her knees. She comes back, and looks down at me, and strokes my back.

"I really wish I could," she says again. She takes a deep breath.

I can't really imagine what the girl is going through. Fighting with not only her family, but herself as well.

Throughout this whole mess, she's remained calm and together, and now she decides to second-guess herself.

"Maybe if I just told one person…" she mutters.

She looks at Campbell who is now on the phone with her father arranging a meeting with her mother.

I sigh, and an idea comes to her mind and her teary eyes light up as she stares at me.

She takes a deep breath, and lets it out as I look up at her, "This was all Kate's idea."

I pick my head up and look at her. Never would've thought that.

She looks at Campbell for the fifth time, still oblivious, and lets out another big breath to where her cheeks resemble a chipmunks, and once again looks at the ceiling.

"Thank you," she says.

I wonder if she's talking to the air, but she looks down at me again.

"Thank you," she repeats.

She stares at me for a moment, and I notice something different about her. A sort of glow that wasn't there before, and a certain shine in her eyes that had been missing. It was almost like Anna Fitzgerald gained something from letting that off her chest. It was almost as if she'd transformed.


	4. Chapter 4

Wednesday

Humans I have found are the most stubborn creatures on this planet. You tell them to do one thing in their best interest, and they either:

a.) Decline and/or don't believe you, or b.) Completely ignore you.

When I get to my feet and whimper, and interrupt Julia's recommendation, I am met with both. Campbell, slightly annoyed, flicks my snout away from him not taking his eyes off the guardian ad litem who has paused to look at me.

Well at least _someone_ took notice… But then she goes back to speaking.

I roll my eyes.

Lemme tell you, if canines could communicate with the human species, we'd have a lot to say. Such as:

"Would you mind passing down that extra turkey leg on Thanksgiving?"

"Hey, every once in awhile it'd be really great if you could tune into the Dog Whisperer so we can see what the big deal is about Caesar Milan."

And then there are the really important times when something serious is about to go down, and we'd just really like to say "HEY! GENIUS! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR TOILET BOWL!"

This would be one of those times.

Trying one last time to not bark out in court, I take my owners coat in my jaws and try to pull him away. Still no reaction.

So much for that. I whine again hitting his thigh urgently trying to get him to move, when Anna Fitzgerald finally decides to speak out.

Oh, this should be good.

She takes the stand and Campbell takes his, OH so sweet time waiting for her to begin. I then notice he now looks as if he splashed his face with water, and his eyes are beginning to dilate. Fantastic.

"Anna," he says, "do you want a glass of water?"

Anna's expression tells me she is thinking the same thing as I. You don't have to be a trained service dog to know Campbell looks like a complete wreck.

Everybody's gotta choose the hard way.

I whine some more and add some high barks here and there trying to get Campbell's attention once more. Anna notices, and so does the judge.

"Mr. Alexander," he scolds, "please control your animal."

"Animal my tail." I bark back at him.

"No Judge!" Campbell tells me.

Am I the only one who foresees a really bad situation here?

"Excuse me?" The real judge exclaims thinking Campbell spoke to him.

"I was speaking to the dog, Your Honor, like you asked."

While Anna talks Kate, I start to get aggravated. How hard is it to take a warning? Ever since I was young, I've been trained to sense things. Whether it was the rate of someone's heart, or if that last jelly doughnut was still on the counter. I'm the one with the training. Take a hint already!

Let me tell you what this job requires physically:

1.) You must be able to spin around in circles like you see when a dog is madly chasing his tail. You know the times. When people bring out the camera to videotape it and send to Americas Funniest Home Videos.

2.) You must be able to jump at least five feet off the ground in one bound so you are able to, or most of the time in my case, _try _to get everyone's attention to the point where they will listen.

3.) Lastly, you must be able to make some type of sound that _also_ gets everyone's attention. For me that would be barking.

All in all, this job is tiring. And there is a special corner in Hell, for those who sometimes wish they weren't service dogs. (Oh wait. I forgot. All dogs go to Heaven. Or is that just a movie?) I am proud to say I am not in that category, and I am risking my own personal health, and possibly sanity, to get Campbell out of here. So. Remember that next time your pet barks an order at you. Could save your life.

Sensing Campbell's heartbeat begin to escalate, I decide to put on show doing what some call "helicopter" spins in the middle of the courtroom.

I hear the judge say something in the background, but I'm to focused on telling Campbell to really hear.

"Come on! Get out of here!" I bark at Campbell as I leap at him.

He continues to ignore me. "You are going to regret this," I growl.

"Kate," Anna's says.

Well, Campbell gets his answer.

The girl's words act like a switch. Campbell falls to the floor with a thud.

Hate to say I told you so.


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday

The rain. I hate it. Especially when it decides to taunt me on the windows of a moving car.

Campbell sits in the drivers seat and Anna sits next to him staring out the window.

Girl took my seat you know.

"I don't give that up to just anyone," I bark as I chase another rain drop down the side of the glass.

She doesn't hear me for she's talking to Campbell. I leave the window to stick my head between their seats to peer out the front.

"Ten years from now," Anna says. "I'd like to be Kate's sister."

You did good kid, I think to myself. Which she did in my opinion. I don't know many young girls her age who-Come to think of it Anna is the only young girl I know, but that's beside the point. She's the only young girl I know of to do something so bold. I lay my head on the armrest, and Anna pets my head.

She smiles down at me, and in that spilt second I decide to break the rules.

I smile back my ears folded flat against my skull.

Her facial expression turns into surprise, and she giggles.

"What?" Campbell asks checking left and right before continuing on.

"Campbell, your dog just smiled at me." Anna tells him.

And as quickly as it was there, my smile disappears.

"Please," Campbell snorts. "Judge doesn't smile he smirks." She thinks she's joking.

"I'm not kidding!" She laughs as I smile again. Can't help it.

Campbell snickers.

Anna looks at me and gives me a smile of her own before looking back out to the road. "I know you did."

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye, and for a split second, I imagine her grown up with a family of her own like her and Campbell were discussing with a small, but perfect house, and with that same smile.

But only for a split second.

The first second were hit, it doesn't even seem to register. I hear a scream, and glass cracking, and then a sharp pain shoots up my right leg. And then…it's quiet. Except for the sound of horns and sirens. My vision finally comes too, and everything is dark. Rain is making its way through broken windows, and I lay on the floor. I stand up shakily and ruffle my fur. My paw hurts, but I'm fine.

That's when I see Campbell. The air bag deployed and did its job, but he still has a few injuries. His arm is in a position I never thought possible and his head is bleeding. I paw at his shoulder with my good paw, and then I see Anna…

The sound of metal being torn apart comes from my right, and I crawl across Campbell just as a firefighter tears off the car door. I inch my way out, but not before barking a few times at Campbell.

I don't look at Anna. I don't care to remember her that way…

I hear the shouts of another firefighter, and I recognize her father's voice. I limp away from the wreckage, and lay down.

I jump up though when I lay in a pile of glass shards. I stare at them and notice broken glass is everywhere, scattered across the pavement. I don't see it as glass though…I see a life that is now broken, and a family that is now in pieces.

But it will be put back together. I'm sure of it.

They pull Anna and Campbell out from the car, and put them onto stretchers.

If I were human, I think I would have cried.


End file.
